Greetings to all of you and a warm welcome to our new
friends who have recently joined the GAIA family

We are pleased to report back on GAIA’s participation at the recent
Johannesburg Earth Summit.

1. Zero Waste Project at the
Global Forum. Based on initial
reports, we achieved 70-80% waste reduction in Nasrec, site of the Global
Forum, outperforming other Summit venues by 300-400%! The
significant waste reduction at the Global Forum is attributed to the
following factors:

a. Designed More Waste Out of the System. The Global Forum
site has restricted the use of most plastics (particularly PVC plastic),
while other Summit venues have only restricted polysterene.

b. Diverted Organic Waste. The Global Forum site has diverted
discarded food and other organic materials while other Summit venues have
not.

c. Invested in Education and Outreach. The Zero Waste project
was actively promoted at the Global Forum using different promotional
tools, particularly the use of posters, flyers and TV monitors to
encourage and guide participants on waste reduction and separation.
(See ELA-GAIA press releases for more information.)

The Zero Waste project tremendously helped in raising the profile of GAIA
among NGOs attending the Summit. The accredited NGO delegates from
all over the world received the Zero Waste information, which ELA and
GAIA published. Brochures, stickers and bookmarks – creatively
designed by our colleague Gigie Cruz - were also distributed at various
meetings and places, including the exhibition booths of ELA, Cape Town
(thanks to Marie-Lou Roux of the Cape Town Anti-Incineration
Alliance/Habitat Council) and the Butterfly Taiwan (thanks to Herlin
Hsieh of the Taiwan Watch Institute). The recycling stations as well as
the locally designed bicycles for collecting materials were marked with
the logos of ELA, GAIA and the Zero Waste project. We thank Muna
Lakhani for his foresight, energy and creativity.

A round of applause to Muna, Zini, Thebogo and the 90-strong Zero Waste
Team. They have done an excellent job in proving to the world that
Zero Waste works. Indeed, the Zero Waste project "shines out
like a beacon in the dark" for a Summit that has been heavily
criticized for failing to address the environmental challenges facing the
planet and humanity. Thank you so much Muna and the Team for a job
well done!

2. Zero Waste
Forum. The ELA-GAIA Forum on 27
August 2002 brought together about a hundred people from Argentina,
Armenia, Cambodia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Lebanon,
Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Philippines, South Africa, South Korea,
Spain, Tanzania, Taiwan, Uganda, making it one of the best attended
parallel events at the Global Forum. There were nine main
presentors who spoke about the problems of incineration and the
determined efforts of communities and public interest groups to advance
real solutions. Thank you to the 20 GAIA members who came to the
meeting, most especially to our resource persons: Raul Montenegro,
FUNAM; Ravi Agarwal, Sristhi/Toxics Link; Zeina Al-Hajj, Greenpeace
Mediterranean; Von Hernandez, Greenpeace International; Muna Lakhani,
Earthlife Africa; Llewelyn Leonard, groundWork; Suyol Hong, KWMN; Herlin
Hsieh, TWI; Josep Puig, Alternativa Verda; and, last but not the least,
Laila Iskander Kamel of Egypt. (See the listserv next week for
the highlights of the Forum)

3. Incineration
Meeting. Through the kind initiative
of our colleague Marie-Lou Roux, a meeting on incineration and its
impacts to public health and the environment was held on 26 August 2002,
with Nicholas Kasa of the Sasolburg Environmental Committee and Manny
Calonzo of the GAIA Secretariat as discussants. The meeting drew
some 30 people, mostly from South Africa who were very concerned with the
use of the polluting waste disposal technology in the country. A
BIG thanks to Marie-Lou for her great enthusiasm and activism.

4. Statement on Incineration
by Summit Participants. The official
Earth Summit failed to make a categorical rejection of incineration as a
waste disposal option. The Plan of Implementation adopted by
governments even classified waste-to-energy incinerators as a favorable
option for managing waste. Nonetheless, concerned Summit
participants signed a GAIA-drafted statement asking governments and their
business and funding partners to stop the destructive practice of
incinerating waste and shift instead to least-cost waste prevention
systems and non-burn alternatives. The statement cited proposed
incinerator projects in Bangkok (Thailand), Beveren (Belgium), Kampung
Bohol (Malaysia), Kirkland Lake (Canada), Ringaskiddy (Ireland) and
Sasolburg (South Africa). Colleagues from South Africa, Taiwan and
Uganda helped in gathering signatures. The statement circulated at
groundWork’s Corporate Accountability Conference, for instance, were
signed by 100 people, including 13 Goldman Environmental Prize awardees
from Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, Egypt, El Salvador, Honduras, Ivory Coast,
Liberia, Madagascar, Slovakia, Somalia, South Africa and South
Korea. (See the GAIA listserv for copy of the
statement.)

5. Networking
Efforts. Our presence at the Summit
has allowed us to interact with potential GAIA members. Those who
have signified their intention to join either as individual or
organizational members include the following: